Kidnapped (34 page)

Luke watched the overhead spotlight marking their destination. “Joe spotted the van. Without him, I would have given up the search when word came about Frank. Did we lose any of our own, when Frank acted as he did?”

“Minor injuries from the shattered glass. But losing the last link to Caroline—the team took what happened very hard and very personally.”

“Frank would have likely strung us along and never told us the truth.” Luke said, thinking of the wild goose chases Frank could have dreamed up to send them all over the county looking for Caroline's body. It would have been so stressful it would create visions of killing Frank for the mental anguish he was causing. They walked on in silence.

A flashlight appeared ahead of them on the path, an officer coming back toward them at too fast a pace for the condition of the path. Luke and Henry moved ahead to meet him.

“Sir.”

The patrolman was young, breathing hard, and stressed, his acknowledgment to Henry quick.

“Tell us,” Henry said.

“There are suspicious wires inside on the front doors, and no windows in the back to let us see in. The side door panel locks have been damaged. Even if we could risk trying to open them, the threat of more wires would caution against it. We can't cut our way in with the hand torch because of the lingering gas fumes. I'm going back for another crowbar. They're trying to peel back enough of the side panel around a spot of rust to get a look inside.”

“Any sound at all from inside?” Henry asked.

“It's quiet, sir. We've been calling trying to get a response, but there's nothing.”

“Go get that crowbar.”

The patrol officer nodded and hurried down the trail.

Luke watched him pass by Sharon, Mark, and Jackie. No one tried to ask him for information; they just stepped aside to let him pass.

“Frank wouldn't wire the vehicle if there wasn't something inside he didn't want us to see,” Henry said.

“Quiet isn't good,” Luke replied. “Take the lead? I'm going to walk with Sharon and Mark for a bit.”

“Sure.”

Henry took the lead, lighting the best path.

Luke walked back to join Sharon and Mark. “How are you doing?” He could see they were both breathing hard, and Mark was sweating now. Neither was in the physical shape after what had happened to be taking a mile walk, let alone through rough terrain.

“Getting a workout,” Sharon replied with a brief smile.

“We're almost there.”

His partner sent him an inquiring look.

“It's a white panel van. They don't know if it's the right one or if Caroline is inside. The patrol officer is going back for more equipment to help them with the locks. Jackie, Henry needs you for a minute.”

She nodded and moved up the trail.

“This is the van?” Mark asked.

“Maybe. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make it hard to open.” Luke didn't ask if they wanted to stop and rest for a moment, but he shortened his stride and slowed them down a bit. He wanted to know more about what they would find before they arrived at the scene.

They walked in silence, pausing only when the patrol officer returned and passed them, risking jogging on the path to make the trip quickly.

As they approached the area, the helicopter spotlight above made it seem nearly day. Joe held at a hover high above, but the noise still made it difficult to be heard. “We're almost there,” Luke observed, stating the obvious. Henry and Jackie had disappeared ahead a few minutes earlier.

“Is that gas I smell?” Sharon asked.

“Yes. It's dissipating with this downdraft.”

The sounds were reaching them now, men's clipped words and shouts of direction. They followed another turn in the creek bed and the van appeared.

It faced up into the woods at an angle, driven up an embankment and into a cluster of young birch trees, branches rubbing against the top of the van and the tires mired in torn-up foliage and fallen logs. The van leaned heavily to the right, suggesting flat tires or a broken axle.

Four officers were working at the side of the van. Heavy gloves protecting their hands, they were pulling at an opening they'd created, peeling back the metal by force. “That's good enough. Let me look.”

The group stepped back a step as one officer tried to angle his light inside and still see through the opening.

“She's in there!”

Sharon stiffened and Luke tightened his grip.

“Is she alive?” Henry asked quietly.

“I can't tell. I need more light, a better angle.” The officer stepped back. “Try to force it down with that crowbar, two more inches, and I can see past the backseat.”

They resumed work on the metal, forcing it to give. The officer pressed in tight to the van's side trying to stabilize the light. “She's breathing. She's definitely breathing. We need cutters in here.”

Sharon hugged Luke and he felt her shoulders begin to shake. He hugged her briefly and hard and then gently passed her to Mark.

“Jackie, arrange for an ambulance at the road, and a medevac flight in as close as they can get to that bridge,” Henry ordered. He turned to officers around him. “Blankets, a stretcher, and lights for the trail. Call in help. I want a mile cordon around this area to keep reporters out of this crime scene.” Officers took the orders with brisk nods and quickly moved to comply.

Luke joined the officers at the van. “Let's get her out of there.”

“There's a lot of dried blood,” the officer whispered.

“We'll deal with it. Just get this wide enough so we can get inside.”

“I need a thicker piece of wood to use as a fulcrum for the crowbar. It's got to handle more pressure than the metal. We're running out of rust-weakened metal to work with and coming up against rivets.”

“Whoa, guys, stop!”

Luke turned to the officer close to the front of the van.

“Those wires are wrapped around a block of something that I don't want to guess what it is. We can't rock the van like this. Those wires are swinging like strands of Christmas lights in the wind.”

“We can't wait for a bomb squad to get here.”

“Find more wood. We can wedge it under the van to stabilize it. If we brace it right, the van isn't going to move even when we get inside.”

Luke listened to the debate among the officers and nodded. “It will work.”

They hurried to get enough wood under the van to steady it. “Good, that will do it. Let's get inside and get this done.”

Luke put his muscle into pulling back the metal panel. It began to give as a seam was reached. “More, that's it!”

The opening widened so that Luke could see through to the officer at the front. Caroline lay in the front where the first bench seat had been removed, her head resting against the side of the captain's seat. Her left arm was broken. He could see the bad angle where the bone penetrated her skin and the blood saturating her sleeve. The gag tight around her mouth looked like it had drawn blood too. As hard as he watched, he saw no movement that indicated she was gaining consciousness.

“Any wires to contend with back here?” Luke asked.

The officer was able to get his head inside the van to better follow the light. “We're clear.” He pulled back and they resumed work. It reached the point where they could use rocks to hammer the metal back.

“I can get in there,” Luke finally said, stopping the work. “Get me above it so I can lower myself in through the opening.” He stepped up on the wood braces and grabbed the cargo rack railing on the top of the van to lift himself up, relieved the wood bracing did its job and held the van steady. He heard his coat tear as the metal grabbed it.

Where to put his feet was a problem. He held himself suspended until he was certain he was coming down on the seat and it wouldn't give and send him crashing onto Caroline. “I need more light!”

He braced himself inside, one foot on a seat and the other on the floor.

They passed him three flashlights and he positioned them around himself.

She was breathing; he could see the faint movement of her chest. Luke didn't let himself linger on how much pain showed on her face. “I need a knife.”

The pocketknife the officers had to offer was no larger than the one in his pocket. Luke carefully cut away the gag and removed the fabric from her mouth. He ran a finger gently across the cut edge of her mouth. He turned his attention to the tape binding her hands. His hand shook as he eased her once-bound hands to her sides. He was almost glad she was unconscious; that broken arm looked bad. He gently turned her head to see if he was also dealing with a head wound causing the unconsciousness. “I need Sharon.”

“I'm right here, Luke.”

He turned. Sharon looked away from Caroline to meet his gaze only briefly before her attention returned to her sister.

“Her hands are icy; she's not responsive. Can she be moved, Sharon?”

“Your priorities have to be breathing, blood, then bones. That injury is going to rip open and bleed again when she's moved. We don't have medics here yet with the supplies I would need to deal with it, so for now, let's wait.”

Luke nodded. Unzipping his coat, he tugged it off and spread it over Caroline, hoping the warmth would hold long enough to help her. He picked up one of the flashlights and turned his attention to the seats.

“See if one of the officers has tools—a screwdriver, a wrench. Getting the seats out will help.”

Luke could hear work going on outside and knew Henry would be looking at options to widen that opening even further. Lifting Caroline up and out without causing undue pressure or movement on her shoulder or arm—they needed options.

Henry appeared with the tools Luke needed to free the seat. “The gas tank is being drained, and we're working on a way to use a hand torch to widen this opening if we can figure out how to control the sparks.”

“I'd rather figure out that option, then deal with those wires up front and whatever else Frank left as his surprise. The downdraft should help us with the fumes. Still, I'd rather move Caroline as soon as we can, even if we have to lift her through this hole. How long on the medical help?”

“Firemen and paramedics are bringing supplies and a stretcher down the trail now.”

“We move her one way or another as soon as they arrive.” Luke forced the seat up from the floor. “Let's get this out of here.”

The seat was awkward and almost larger than a person. Two-thirds of the way through it jammed. Luke put his shoulder into it but couldn't get the leverage to turn it.

“Hold on, Luke.”

The seat rocked as officers outside tugged at it. Luke felt the metal suddenly give. “Okay. That should do it.”

They yanked the seat out.

Breathing hard, Luke stepped back. Without the seat as an obstacle, he had more options. If he turned Caroline and lifted her so her face looked to the sky—her shoulders would clear without a problem. Once her torso cleared, her legs would be no problem. He shone the flashlights around and reached for the floor mats. He used the heavy fabric to cover the worst of the sharp metal.

“The medics are here.”

“I need something to keep her arms immobile.”

“This will do the job.” They passed him a mesh sock that stretched to become a cocoon around her torso, holding still her shoulder and arm. Luke tried not to look at Caroline's face as he worked, knowing that would slow him down and cloud his vision with more tears. “Hang on, honey. We're almost out of here.”

He set the flashlights out of his way. “Are you ready?”

“We're ready.”

“Don't pull her; let me lift her from below.” He slid his hands behind her back and lifted her.

Hands reached in to steady her through the opening.

“Her arm—” Luke gasped.

“I've got her,” Henry said, his hands under her head and sliding past the injury to make certain her arm stayed immobile. Her tennis shoe rubbed on the metal and then she was out.

Luke pulled himself out of the van as they laid Caroline down.

They were almost free of this nightmare.

Caroline disappeared from his sight as Sharon and the paramedics took over.

Luke ran the back of his hand across his face, wiping away sweat, tears, worry. She was out of that death trap—and alive.
Thank You, God.

Mark joined him. “You okay?”

His smile felt real. “Fine.”

He watched them work as paramedics reached for IV bags and Sharon ripped open pressure bandage packets to stop the renewed bleeding.
Not quite fine.

Luke took a seat on the nearest fallen log. If they had abandoned the search until morning, Caroline would not have been found alive. It was that close. His hands quivered.

God, I'm sorry I doubted a good outcome was possible. I forgot that nothing is impossible with You.

Mark sat beside him and offered a candy stick. “They work well for stress.”

Luke accepted it. “This wasn't how I thought it would end.”

“She survived; that's enough.”

“It's a very bad break.”

“Sharon and her colleagues are very good doctors.”

Luke let his hands rest across his knees, exhaustion taking hold. “One week of this stress is enough to kill you.”

“When this is over, we're all taking a long vacation somewhere with a beach, good food, and no press.”

“I like your thinking, Mark.”

“If the medical crews have room, I'll let Sharon go to the hospital with Caroline while I swing home to pick up Benjamin. I think he'd rather spend some time at the hospital with us than be home without us.”

“I think that's wise. It will be good for him to see everyone together again, to see for himself that Caroline is okay.”

“What about you?”

“If they tell me Caroline is stable, then I've still got work to do tonight. Frank is no longer a factor, but the man who hired him—he's still out there.”